Safety catch structure



' NOV. 12, 1963 N Y 3,110,073

SAFETY CATCH STRUCTURE Drigmal Flled March 14, 1960 2 sheets sheet 1 35 a INVENTOR fi P J #44/ /570 .Nov. 12, 1963 H. KALINSKY ,07

SAFETY CATCH STRUCTURE Original Filed March14, 1960 2 s-heetssheet 2 BY &

KTTQPNE) United States Patent O 1 Claim. (U1. 24241) This invention relates to bracelets and, more particularly, to a safety catch construction for use with various types of jewelry, bracelets, and the like. This application is a continuation of copending application Ser. No. 14,932, filed March 14, 1960, and now abandoned.

Ordinarily, damage, 'loss, or breakage results when the clasp of an article of jewelry is accidentally opened during use. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a safety clasp having a safety catch which is automatically moved to a locked position in response to partlal and full closing of the cover member of the clasp, so as to provide a double locking effect that will overcome the aforementioned difiiculties.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety clasp having a double locking feature which does not require any additional locking or fastening operations, and which effectively provides a double locking action in response to the closing of an outside cover member.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a safety clasp of the type described in which the safety catch thereof is moved to a locking position by movement of the cover member to an intermediate position as through inattentiveness of the wearer, the safety catch also remaining in locked position in the event that the cover is accidentally opened from latched or fully closed position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety clasp of the above type which can be manufactured in large quantities at a relatively low cost, and which can be constructed of any desired material so as to be equally as well adaptable for use with precious and semi-precious metals alike.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a safety clasp made in accordance with the present invention in actual use, with all of the parts in a locked position;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view of the parts of the assembly shown in FIGURE 1 in an open position;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged longitudinal cross sectional view of the main parts of the safety catch shown in FIG- URE 2 in open position;

FIGURE 3a is a view similar to FIGURE 3 with the safety catch of the clasp locked while the cover member is not in fully closed position;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3, with all parts in fully locked position;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the main body portion of the present invention;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a slide member forming another part of the present invention;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional View of FIGURE 6 across the plane 77 thereof; and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view in perspective of the slide member.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, a safety clasp 10 made in accordance with the present invention is shown to include a main body portion 12 which can be constructed in any desired manner, such as by a stamping operation. This main body portion 12 is adapted to be connected to one strap member 13 and de es a trans- 351 lhflid Patented Nov. 12, H363 versely extending groove 14 that forms a socket for the bail 15 that is secured to another strap member 17.

A cover member it having a bearing 21 at one end is pivotally carried upon a cross bar or pintle 23- at the free end of the main body member 12 for selective pivotal movement between a closed position overlying the transversely grooved side of the main body member, an intermediate open position and a fully extended open position extending horizontally and outwardly at the free end thereof, as is shown respectively in FIGS. 4, 3a and 3.

The bearing 21 of the cover member 29' is provided with a struck-out tongue or tangentially extending leg 25 which is movable into engagement with an abutment 26 of a safety catch slide 23 that is slidably supported within the interior of the main body member 12 for reciprocating longitudinal movement between the opposite ends thereof. Thus, as the cover member 29 is rotated from the open position illustrated in FIGURE 3, to the interrn'ediately and finally closed positions illustrated in FIGURES 3a and 4, the leg 25 engages with the abutment 26 and moves the slide 23 longitudinmly toward the bearing end of the main body member 12.

Slide 28 is dimensioned for alignment and frictional slidin inside body 12 except for a detent 30 reduced in width as shown in FIGURE 7. Said detent projects upwardly and outwardly through a longitudinal slot 31 in the upper side or wall of the main body member and which is movable between an open position and a closed blocking position overlying the socket formed by the groove 14, in response to longitudinal movement of the slide 28 by the leg 25 of the cover member 24 engaging with the abutmerit 26. In the closed blocking position, as when cover member 2i is in intermediate positions and in final latched closed position, the detent 3t overlies the groove 14 and prevents the release of the bail 15 from the groove 14*. Thus, by threading the cover member 20 through the bail 15 of the auxiliary member l6 and placing the bail 15 within the groove 14, the rotation of the cover member 2:; at intermediate and final closed positions effects the longitudinal movement of the slide 28 to bring the detent 30 into blocking engagement over the top of the bail 15. As a result, even though the cover 26", may by inadvertence not be completely closed or may accidentally be opened during use, the detent 30 will remain in blocking engagement with the bail 15 until it is retracted by hand. Of course it is possible by rotating cover member to a fully opened position to push slide 28 inwardly by engagement of elements 2% and 26 to free groove 14 from detent 36. This is accomplished by varying the shape and dimensions of elements 25 and 26.

The cover member 20 is provided with a struck-out tongue or projection 33 that is frictionally engaged with a longitudinally extending bead 32 on the rear end of the main body member 12 for latching purposes. An outwardly projecting extension 35 provides means for lifting the cover member 2i} out of the closed position in which it is usually retained by the engagement of the projection 33 with the bead 32.

It will now be recognized that while a relatively few number of parts are required for the clasp unit, the cooperation between these parts enables the clasp to perform a single and double locking action that is automaticaliy set up in response to the movement and closure of the cover member alone. While there is no positive connection between the slide mom or and the main body 12 except for the abutment of the leg 25 and exterior of the cover member 2% with the abutment 26, during rotation of the cover member, the movement of the safety catch slide 28 is positively controlled in movement toward closure and cannot be accidentally moved to an open position. Slide 28 is retractable preferably by hand only and when the cover is in an outstretched position at least beyond the first intermediate position at which slide 28 closes groove 14 by detent 36.

While this invention has been described with particular reference to the construction shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that such is not to be construed as imparting limitations upon the invention, which is best defined by the claim appended hereto.

I claim:

A safety clasp for a strap, comprising in combination, a main body member attached to one end of the strap and comprising an open ended elongated hollow body including a fiat top and side walls and having a longitudinally extending slot in said top and a transverse groove extending into said side walls and intersecting said slot, a pintle extending across said body between one end of said groove and an open end of said body, a slide movable in said body comprised of a flat bottom plate, an end plate and a top plate, a detent on said top plate extending into said slot and linearly movable therein from a position exposing said groove to a position overlying said groove, and an abutment perpendicular to said bottom plate at the end of said slide opposite said end plate and adjacent to the open end of said body nearest said pintle, a unitary dome shaped cover member having straight side edges and an inturned end forming a bearirig pivotally mounted on said pintle for selective movement between an open position, an intermediate position and a closed position in which said cover overlies said groove and said slot, said side edges abutting said at top when in said closed position, a bail secured to the other end of the strap and seating in said groove, and a longitudinally extending inturned leg on said cover member extending from said inturned end in perpendicular relation to said straight side edges, movable to engage said abutment during pivotal movement of said cover member from open to closed position to move said slide, said abutment being aligned with said pintle when said slide is in groove exposing position whereby movement of said cover to intermediate position initially moves said slide to groove covering position and further movement of said cover aligns said leg interiorly of said abutment relative to the adjacent open end of said body member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,991,287 Martin Feb. 12, 1935 2,141,251 Prestinari Dec. 27, 1938 2,148,534 Cohan et a1 Feb. 28, 1939 2,153,818 Iost Apr. 11, 1939 2,211,918 Levine Aug. 13, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS 620,254 Great Britain Mar. 22, 1949 

